Barry Forshaw
THE MAN INSIDE
John Gilling, director/Powerhouse Indicator
Let’s begin with a film for which (along with the indefatigable Kim Newman) I provided an audio commentary. The Man Inside is an unusually cast international thriller with the polyglot cast of the imposing Jack Palance and the zaftig Anita Ekberg. Also on board: ace British character actor Nigel Patrick, not to mention a quirky comic role for a young Anthony Newley. Based on a novel by Elleston Trevor (perhaps better known as Adam Hall, author of the Quiller spy thrillers) and directed with customary verve by John Gilling. Palance is cast against type as a globetrotting humorous hero (rather than the menacing heavy that is his customary métier) on the trail of an exclusive jewel thief played with a surprising degree of complexity by Nigel Patrick. Ekberg relies on her more pneumatic accoutrements than her histrionic ones, but if that was good enough for Fellini it’s good enough for Gilling. An interesting curio.
IDLE ON PARADE
John Gilling, director/Powerhouse Indicator
As a companion piece to the above (with another Forshaw/Newman commentary), here’s an intriguing curiosity from Warwick, the film company who two years after this were part of the genesis of the James Bond franchise. It’s a service comedy starring Anthony Newley as a British Elvis Presley figure drafted into the army (if you’re thinking of the musical Bye Bye Birdie, you won’t be far wrong). Newley proves to be an engaging personality, making virtually no secret of the fact that he can’t play the guitar he is constantly holding, and American import William Bendix plays the bulldog-like Sergeant Major who makes his life a misery. The female lead is the surely soon to-be-rediscovered Anne Aubrey, and this is a fascinating snapshot of a particular era both in British popular cinema and popular music.
NEGATIVES
Peter Medak, director/ BFI Flipside
The BFI flipside label has long been one of the most attractive destinations for cinéastes of eclectic tastes, and this issue of the much-neglected Negatives – the first film from director Peter Medak – is a welcome addition to the company’s already extensive repertoire. With a cast that includes Glenda Jackson (in her first film), Diane Cilento and Peter McEnery, this obviously guarantees performances of considerable skill, as indeed proves to be the case with the actors creating a strange psychosexual trio. This is the first time Negatives has been available on any format in the UK, and extras include an audio commentary and audio interviews with the director. The film is newly remastered from the original camera negative.
CRY OF THE BANSHEE
Gordon Hessler, director/Hammer
Here’s an interesting tributary connected with the new version of the company, Hammer; Hammer Presents, showcasing films from other companies. I spoke about Cry the Banshee with my late friend, the writer Chris Wicking, for my book British Gothic Cinema. As Chris said: ‘Scream and Scream Again was the second film that Gordon Hessler and I worked on.’ With its radical approach to a variety of genres – the film is a fusion of science fiction and horror elements – it remains one of the more extraordinary films produced in this country.). We subsequently worked on Cry of the Banshee (1970), and by this time, the high esteem in which we were held by AIP has become something different, and Gordon and I had to learn to guard our tongues. We had a notion of drawing modern political parallels with the Banshee script, but we realised we would have to keep that quiet.’ Compromises aside, fans of the writer and director – not to mention Vincent Price enthusiasts – will relish this sparkling new addition, looking better than the film ever has before.
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB
Seth Holt, Michael Carreras, directors/Studio Canal
And still with Chris Wicking, he continued: ‘A director I greatly admired, Seth Holt, worked on Blood from The Mummy’s Tomb (1971; he was hired, in fact, at my suggestion – although his personal problems (notably his alcoholism) meant that the film was already in trouble, even before Holt’s death during the making — the producer Michael Carreras finished it.’ This splendid new Blu-ray gives viewers a chance to investigate a new film which is the very definition of a film maudit, and viewers are far more likely to be generous today.
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Larry Cohen, director/Radiance
There are cult directors and their occult directors. Some, like David Lynch, achieve a wide degree of celebrity despite the esoteric nature of the work. Others, like the director Larry Cohen, make their mark working in a variety of popular genres such as the horror field. Special Effects achieved some attention on its first appearance, notably for showing Cohen’s assured usage of thriller and horror tropes. This sprucing up of that film – which most viewers will only have seen on a fuzzy VHS version – looks more eye-catching.
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST
John Schlesinger/director/Arrow
The body of work by the American writer Nathanael West may be small but in its day made an indelible mark – and nothing he wrote is more highly thought of than his excoriating hellish vision of Hollywood, which ends with nothing less than a kind of Armageddon. The British director John Schlesinger made a considerable mark with his first take on America, a version of James Leo Herlihy’s unsparing Midnight Cowboy, and here repeats that caustic outsider’s view of another country, coaching remarkable performances from Karen Black as an unselfconsciously destructive Lorelei and Donald Sutherland as a particularly vulnerable victim of hers. The arrow Blu-ray looks quite splendid.
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT
Charles E Sellier, director/101 Films
Collectors of the slasher movie genre are nothing if not completists, and here in a spruced-up Blu-ray edition is one of the films they may have seen only on a fuzzy VHS tape in its heyday. Needless to say, the cut and thrust here looks better in this transfer and this remains one of the more quirky items in the genre.
SHANGO
Edoardo Mulargia, director/88
One might have thought that with the omnivorous appetite of the Blu-ray industry for new product that every corner of Italian genre cinema had been exhausted – but as this tempting entry proves, that is not the case. Edoardo Mulargia’s distinctive spaghetti western has the kind of energy that distinguishes the most memorable entries in the genre. The script was cowritten by the director and film star Anthony Steffen, with the latter as a Texas Ranger up against a ruthless Confederate officer and his band of savage marauders. Everything is cranked up to the nth degree, and this is a particularly striking entry in the genre from the always enterprising 88 company.
HELTER SKELTER
Mike Ninagawa, director/88 Asia
The bijou label 88 Films belies its modest size issue with a program it is truly impressive. Apart from a spread of genre movies from the American and Italian Cinema, the company’s Asia imprint is a reliable source of unusual Asian cinema products such as Helter Skelter, a colourful and impressive entry from director Mike Ninagawa
SALEM’S LOT
Tobe Hooper, director/Arrow
Few horror entries imprint themselves so indelibly on the memories of enthusiasts as Tobe Hooper’s very impressive version of Stephen King’s iconic novel, which is still remembered with a pleasurable chill by those who saw it on television on its first appearance. It’s particularly good to be able to say that not only does it still work a treat, it has never looked better than in this latest Arrow Films iteration which gives a choice of the original television series and a condensed feature film version. One aspect that wears particularly well is James Mason’s suave murderously aide of the version of Dracula that King presents. This time round, it’s perfectly clear that King was simply rewriting stoker’s Dracula, in terms of the shape of the narrative, but he did it with great style, matched here by Tobe Hooper’s contributions.
INNERSPACE
Joe Dante director/Arrow
The response to Joe Dante’s fun semi-remake of Richard Fleischer’s Fantastic Voyage on its first appearance was underwhelming, but many people will be rewriting their opinion with this welcome reissue showing how well Dante’s film has worn. And Jerry Goldsmith’s memorable score comes up a treat in this new transfer.
THE DEVIL’S HAND
Maurice Tourneur, director/Eureka
This remarkable issue is almost a single-handed justification of the whole Blu-ray industry, bringing to light again one of the most expressive of French fantasy cinema entries in a quite splendid iteration. Those impressed by the work of the director Jacques Tourneur who have been intrigued as to what the achievement of his famous director father looked like need seek no further; it’s perfectly clear (as the cliché says) that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Devil’s Hand stars Pierre Fresnay as an enigmatic figure who arrives at a mountain inn cut off by an avalanche. He is a bizarre figure with a prosthetic hand, and the remarkable story he tells the guests is the body of the film. Yet again, Eureka has found something notably off the beaten track.
VAMPYROS LESBOS & SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY
Jess Franco, director/Severin Films
Dedicated collectors may have acquired earlier versions of these erotic Jess Franco favourites, but no previous transfers have looked as impressive as these spruced-up new editions do from Severin Films, arriving in eye-popping UHD premiers (4K UHD/Blu-ray) with each film available in two-disc editions along with a cornucopia of special features.